Economic Outline

Economic Indicators

For the latest updates on the key economic responses from governments to address the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, please consult the IMF's policy tracking platform Policy Responses to COVID-19.

With a strategic location that makes the country a natural gateway into the landlocked region of Central Africa (including Chad, Central African Republic and northern Congo), Cameroon is undoubtedly an influential country in the economic and monetary community of the region. In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic has pushed the economy into recession, but GDP growth rebounded to 3.6% in 2021, supported by the non-oil sector recovery and the general global economic recovery (IMF). According to IMF estimates, economic growth will continue to strengthen, with growth rates reaching 4.6% in 2022 and 4.9% in 2023. This performance will be driven by public investments in projects such as the hydroelectric dam of Lom-Pangar and Nachtigal and the port of Kribi. Greater electricity supply, rising liquefied natural gas production and activities related to the African Cup of Nations will support economic growth.

After slowing down in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and security tensions in the region, Cameroon’s economy rebounded in 2021. Restrictive budget policy prior to the pandemic, a modest recovery plan, emergency fund from the IMF and debt payment suspension contributed to the stability of public finances. The authorities aim to avoid premature fiscal tightening and to gradually reduce the budget deficit to 3.1% in 2021, 1.9% in 2022 and then to below 1% in 2024 (IMF). Public debt, which increased to an estimated 45.8% GDP in 2020 and 2021, is expected to reduce to 43.8% GDP in 2022 and 41.8% GDP in 2023 (IMF). Inflation remained moderate at 2.3% in 2021, and is forecast to further decrease to 2.1% in 2022 and 2% in 2023 (IMF). In the context of the IMF’s Extended Credit Facility and Extended Fund Facility arrangements, Cameroonese authorities are focused on strengthening budgetary discipline, addressing fiscal risks from state-owned enterprises, and accelerating the implementation of structural reforms (IMF).

Despite the rather satisfying economic performances of the country, poverty affects nearly 40% of the population, around 8 million people. The crisis Covid-19 increased the extreme poverty rate from 24.5% in 2019 to an estimated 25.3% in 2021 (World Bank). Because the poverty reduction rate is lagging behind the population growth rate, the overall number of poor in Cameroon increased, and poverty is increasingly concentrated in the North and Far North (World Bank). The latter regions are also hit by the attacks of the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram and a secessionist insurgency in the Anglophone regions. More than 500,000 Cameroonians have been internally displaced since December 2017, and the country also hosts more than 440,000 refugees, mainly from the Central African Republic and Nigeria (World Bank, UNHCR). In 2020, the unemployment rate in the country stood at 3.6% (World Bank, ILO estimate)

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